


Empty Echo

by LadyBardock



Series: True Love [27]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hackers, Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Bunkers, End of the World, Espionage, Hacking, M/M, Major Character Injury, Survival, looting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-12 04:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7920298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBardock/pseuds/LadyBardock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting an encrypted message Kili would have never predicted what really happened to the world. His uncle was gone, his company was gone, everything was gone, he was all alone in empty walls of the top secret bunker under Erebor's main building in Orange County New York. Will he go insane with only the empty echo answering his voice?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Life was boring in so many aspects now that Kili couldn’t even begin to count. Controls, panels, satellites. Screens, more screens and readings. He growled with frustration. He had no fucking idea how he ended up where he was. All alone.

_Last time he saw uncle Thorin it was over two months ago. Before the shit began. He was working in Erebor Central doing his regular thing, it was dead late at night, but he was half done and he desperately wanted to finish. That saved his life._

_Sometime around two am he saw an urgent encrypted message flashing on his screen._

_“Urgent at two am?” He growled. But his instincts told him to open it. It was a video message._

_“Kili I’m stuck in China and things are not looking good!” Thorin’s voice sounded desperate which was very unusual for the strong man. “The world is going to hell... everything that is happening here is just so fucked up! Listen carefully boy, and listen good! Go down to the Erebor Bunker under the main building and lock yourself in! There is some kind of epidemic going on in China, but it will soon spread all over the world! Go down there as soon as you get this and secure it! It’s a code red. I repeat it’s a code red! Send the news to all our units and facilities!” There was some kind of rumbling in the background and Thorin looked spooked. Kili saw the gun in his hand and soon his uncle turned around and shot. “Run Kili! Save yourself!”_

_“Fuck fuck fuck!” Kili grimaced and began packing his things. He had tones of personal stuff in the office so he swiftly pushed it in a box and packed in the private elevator going down to the secure bunker._

_He stopped for a moment at the security terminal and typed in security codes. Soon he saw footage from all the cameras and everything seemed fine for now. The news were saying something about some suspicious riots, but Kili knew it was only a first phase._

_He clicked the red protocol icon on the terminal and began setting shut down codes for the offices. He would have time to do the rest from the bunker._

_“What’s going on?” A security guard Kili knew well stopped him. Kili gazed at Bofur seriously._

_“It’s a red lock down. I don’t know the details, but you should go and get your family away from town.” Kili told him._

_“I can’t just drop my job...” Bofur complained with panic._

_“Here!” Kili pushed a big envelop with cash into his hands. “Save your family! Officially I’m releasing you from your post tonight, I’m locking down the building.”_

_“I can’t accept this...” The guard mumbled, but Kili was pushing the boxes into the security elevator hidden in the wall._

_“If this is just a false alarm, I will cover your ass.” Kili assured him._

_Bofur just stood there and glared at the red light signally the elevator going down. He gazed around the building and the words ‘ lock down’ kick in. He rushed out to the front door, desperately holding the envelop in his hand._

Since that day he was all alone. He often wondered if Bofur was alive, and with regret thought of what he did. He could have asked him to stay. But Bofur had a family, two brothers, eight nieces and nephews. He hoped he got away from hell in time. Because New York became hell just several days later. He hoped Bofur had listened. That he used the money and got out of town.

He saw the news, until it was still broadcast. He kept track of the satellite feeds, computer systems. Desperately waiting for some sign. But his uncle never contacted him. His friends never called. And he was all alone.

He couldn’t complain, the bunker was secure. The whole building was in lock down, which meant only two entrances functional but locked, all windows and gates under thick steel curtains. New York was pretty calm not counting the zombies, hoards and swarms of them.

He saw some wild groups roam the suburbs using CCTV but they never even attempted coming near his location. Not that they could get in anyway.

Feeling bored he kept hacking. Hacking CCTV in any building or town he could. Monitoring satellite feed. Gathering intel.

As time flew by he had no idea why he was doing what he was doing. Stuck in a bunker, writing programs and protocols for equipment that didn’t exist anymore.

Praying to see his uncle again who was probably dead. What a fucking great end of the world.

\-----

It was another lazy pointless day, out of sheer boredom he sat at the control panel. First he checked the satellites for any attempt of contact, but the screens were blank. He was receiving but there was nothing to receive. TV was down, all hidden military channels were down, simply silence.

He had no idea why he began viewing the city, using CCTV. The zombies were strange creatures. Active and fast when food was around, and slow and lethargic when there was no food. He began wondering how many people made it out, only to realise he could use the satellites.

“I just need to write the right program...” He said out loud just for the purpose of hearing his own voice.

As soon as the idea was born Kili had a new purpose. All his attention and focus on the new mission he set himself. It he could find people, he could try to contact them using the old systems. Maybe he could find his uncle... Writing the program wasn’t easy, but Kili had a knack for difficult things. A few days and he had a mainframe. Two weeks later he had a working module.

“Now a few final touches...” Kili kept mumbling to himself and tapping. After a few more hours he turned it on.

“Now let’s connect you to anything worth connecting.” Kili gazed at the list of satellites. He knew Erebor had enough, but using cross triangulation was a safer option. Soon he hacked all the satellites he could. The military ones heavily guarded, and normally he would never dare, but the world was over. There was no court to judge him, or police to arrest him.

Soon he had a view of the world unlike anyone else before. A heat signature map with all the people still alive. A movement signature map to point out all the zombies.

“117 678 people still left.” He said out loud and smiled. He quickly noted the date and number and began searching for larger groups. There was a chance, a tiny ray of hope that indestructible resourceful Thorin was in one of them.

“Now let’s make a difference...” Kili gazed at the locations.

He decided to gather information first, and it proved the best strategy. After watching a group roam Boston he decided not to help them in any way, disgusted with what they were doing.

“Are murderers and rapists the only people left?” He growled after watching three other groups roam the streets. It was so easy to watch them in CCTV that it was actually scary. And for a moment he wondered if the government actually used it for spying in the old days.

He finally located a ship. Pretty big National Guard unit. It was a hassle to hack them, but soon he found a way into the ship’s security system.

“Let’s see who you are and what you’re doing...” He whispered and watched a group of troops and civilians on the ship. It was cramp, they were struggling, but they were normal people. They kept hierarchy and the captain of the ship was in charge.

“Now... options... a ship full of 640 people they needs supplies, they need safety. They need fuel to travel.” He counted out. Soon he was working on maps. The whole coast line was infected and swarmed. “Well well, he have a port!” He glanced at the tiny island. It was far away, but checking their fuel level they had just enough to get there.

He easily tapped into their communication system.

\-------

Captain Aragorn rarely believed in luck. He believed in facts. And facts were they were alone, the world was gone, all people zombiefied or dead.

They were drifting now, in a safe zone, any attempt to dock was too risky. Dangerous. Their two tries were met with huge zombie swarms on the beaches and bays. Slowly they were drifting to their doom, food supplies dwindling and water filters barely managing with the huge number of people they saved.

He saved nearly four hundred people just to watch them die of hunger...

“Captain incoming transmission!” His communication officer called out from the bridge.

Aragorn ran as fast as he could. Just to see his second in command Nerkow stunned, and the communication officer Lacy pale with some kind of spark in her eyes. Aragorn reached for the phone.

“Minas do you copy.”

“Minas, captain Aragorn Strider speaking.” Aragorn replied.

“I’m glad your communication system is still working.” The voice assured him.

“Who are you? Where are you calling from?” Aragorn shot questions.

“Classified.” The voice replied. “You can call me your Guardian Angel, I can see you on the satellite feed.”

“Are there other survivors? Is there an evacuation plan?” Aragorn asked.

“Captain the world went to hell. I’m sitting in a top secret facility using illegal methods to contact you. There is no evacuation. Survivors? Most groups I located so far... are uncivilized.” The voice added grimly. “And I would advise avoiding them at all cost.”

“So what can we do?” Aragorn was depressed.

“Set course for Rum Cay.” The voice told him.

“But that’s foreign land?” Aragorn was puzzled.

“Free of infection foreign land with only fifty nine inhabitants. Good soil, palm trees and coral reefs all around.” The voice seemed happy. “You have just enough fuel to get there.”

“How can you know that?” Aragorn asked puzzled.

“I can see everything...” The voice replied. “I could actually control your ship from here, but well I’ll leave the boring work to you specialists.”

“Are you sure it’s safe there?” Aragorn asked.

“I’m sure.” The voice replied.

“Is there a way we can contact you?” Aragorn asked slowly.

“I’ll send you coordinated for satellite communication.” The voice replied.

“Coordinates!” Aragorn told Lacy his communication officer.

“But that’s a Russian satellite...” She protested.

“I hacked it.” The voice replied calmly. “It’s mine now, the Russians are down, just like the Chinese.”

“Connect!” Aragorn told her.

“Establishing connection.” Lacy said obediently.

“Rum Cay is surrounded by coral reef...” They saw pictures and details on their screens. “It will prevent the zombies from reaching shore.”

“Thank you.” Aragorn said seriously.

“Don’t thank me yet, get there safe and save as many as you can.” The voice told them. “Otherwise the world really is screwed...”

\------

After helping Minas, Kili managed to contact two bunkers with large groups of survivors, one of Erebor labs ‘The Shire’ was still functional, and a military unit stationed in Alaska. They were all so happy to hear any form of contact that Kili felt he had a purpose. He tried to help all those he managed to locate. Some never responded despite getting his messages, two Chinese submarines simply ignored him, one Russian ship as well. But he didn’t care, the more he helped the more people were saved.

He was so focused on his task that he forgot about his closest surrounding, and when the security system began ringing that there an entry, Kili was so stunned he had no idea what to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Fili was becoming desperate. He was stuck in Dwalin’s apartment in New York. His ribs still hurt like hell, he was nauseous and ill. His leg was still in plaster and walking was really difficult. He got the news to stay in, he knew he would be safe, the door locked and a huge food stash. That was until he realised this wasn’t just some minor crisis. It was an apocalypse. The food supply was enough for a few weeks, but not months. He was stuck. After a long struggle he cut the plaster with a knife, but his leg wasn’t fully healed, so walking wasn’t a pleasant experience.

He roamed the neighbouring apartments, finding food, killing the zombies. He thanked Mahal for all the training he got, for the will to survive and kill. He found quite a few weapons in Dwalin’s apartment, and he was managing somehow. But he knew his time was limited. There was no way he could survive more than a few months. There was no way he would take winter without basic facilities.

Soon he had to face it, either he found a way to get out and hide, or he wouldn't make it.

_‘Erebor is the best company in the world!’ Dwalin assured him. ‘Once you get back on your feet I’ll hand in your CV to my supervisor.’_

_‘That would be great...’ Fili mumbled knowing going back to the military was out of the question. He didn’t feel like joining the CIA, and he would never pass the psychical requirement to be an FBI agent._

_‘I work here in Orange County, it’s a small building, but it’s probably the most secure one I’ve ever seen.’ Dwalin’s voice continued. ‘On a normal day you would never tell there is anything special about it. Four stories tall, glass walls just like many fancy office buildings. But the real catch is what is inside. Once in secure lock down, the building has a four inch aluminium shield. It’s fully self efficient, water from a well under the building, power from a geothermal power plant. Under it, Erebor build one of the most secure bunkers ever, designed to withstand a nuclear bomb. Undefeatable, with food supply and tones of resources. The boss of Erebor has chosen that building for his personal hiding place.’_

_‘You seem very devoted...’ Fili mused seeing the spark in his friend’s eyes._

_‘Thorin... well I still got a soft spot for him. We never worked out the way I wanted us to, but now I can honestly say he’s a great friend.’ Dwalin assured him._

_Fili just blinked hearing about Dwalin’s ex. ‘No wonder Ori gets offended when you talk about him like that.’_

_‘Just because we fucked for a while I cannot kick out of my life one of my best friends. Ori is a darling, I really love him, but the past is a closed chapter.’ Dwalin told him._

_‘I value my friends... you and Nori really did a lot to help me after my ‘accident’.’ Fili told him with respect._

_‘We’re going away for a few days... Are you sure you can handle yourself?’ Dwalin asked._

_‘I’ll be fine.’ Fili replied watching his friend pack._

‘I’ll be fine.’ He repeated to himself looking at his target location. It took a long time to get there, passing through the infected city was a real hassle. He used most of his weapons, he was running out of food, and his leg... was killing him.

He used his sniper scope to analyze the building seeking an entry. It was really secure and locked down. The shields all the way down.

“They had to leave an entrance...” Fili mumbled to himself observing the building. Soon he spotted it. A door at the back with a standard electronic lock, probably with bolts and additional bars. The only way was to break the code on the lock. And he needed time for that.

He glanced at the number of zombies walking all around, getting to that door is going to be really difficult, getting it open a pain in the ass, and he had no idea what to expect on the inside. He needed to find cover...

He browsed the cars in the area, that doorway was in a narrow dent inside the building, he could get the car sideways and use it to shield off the zombies, giving him more time to open the door. He needed the right car... He finally stopped on a Minivan just near the entrance of the building he was on. The door was open and it seemed empty.

“Let’s do this...” He hissed and stumbled towards the fire escape. The Minivan was just a forty feet from where he would go down.

Getting down wasn’t nice, and jumping off made sent huge shiver of pain down his whole body. With huge effort he stumbled towards the car, shooting a few zombies using a silencer.

Closing the door he made sure there was no one in the car, and he reached down to rip the cables. Only to see the keys in the ignition. It didn’t work at first, but after a few tries the engine began working with huge difficulty.

“It’s just a short drive... do your best honey...” He inhaled deeply and patted the steering wheel. “Just a short drive...” The car thumbed on a few bodies on the road, went over a few zombies. After the labyrinth of abandoned cars he finally made it close to the door.

“Now here comes the hard part...” He made sure the car blocked as much of the entrance as possible, he shot a few zombies which noticed him, and he reached for the lock. “Fucking hell... A ZTX 98321?”

Fili was annoyed, he expected a difficult lock, but this was beyond difficult. He plugged in his laptop and used all the programs he had. Praying that one would work.

More and more zombies were coming his way, and he kept shooting. Soon the door clicked.

With huge pain he dragged himself there, pulled the laptop and shut the door. The moment he did that he felt his legs go weak on him, so he sat down and glanced at his leg. The red he saw didn’t indicate anything god.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” He chanted and pulled his trousers up just to see his wound back open.

“Fuck!” He pulled out a dressing from his bag and tried to clear the wound to the best of his ability.

As soon as he was done, he felt sweat roll down his forehead. He gazed around, it was very dark inside, the shutters making it solid secure.

With pain he got back on his feet and slowly walked to the security desk. He sat down and gazed at the screens. But quickly concluded the building was empty. No one on all the floors. The basement parking looked nothing special as well, just several company cars parked there. For a moment he wondered about the bunker but he needed more strength.

With immense pain he dragged himself to the elevator and went to the last floor, where he saw two suites. He stumbled there but with disappointment he noticed no food in the kitchenette area. He slumped on the couch and reached for his bag, he had a few snacks left. Then he needed to find food. Any food. Or this safe haven was not worth the price of getting in.

\-----

Kili watched the stranger come in using the back door. He blocked the entrance with a car. Kili watched him with huge skill hack the door and later walk inside locking the door behind him.

He watched him like a hawk wondering if this person was aware there was a secret bunker under the building. He seemed injured and reached for his leg with pain. After dressing the wound the man got up and stumbled with pain to the security desk.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Kili mumbled to himself watching the man check the security footage of the building.

Soon the man got up and using the elevator got to the top floor, where Kili and Thorin had a small apartment they sometimes used. He roamed the empty now kitchen. Kili emptied it after he felt secure enough, and with a groan of disappointment he dropped on the couch.

“Now the question is, is that a zombie bite...” Kili wondered looking at the screen. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

He watched the man for six hours. He got up and with much difficulty went to the toilet, only to slump back on the sofa, change the bloody dressing and fall unconscious again.

Thinking fast Kili left a message to his contacts. ‘How long after infection does one become a zombie?’ A new idea blooming in his head.

‘4-6 hours, the more severe wound the faster.’ The answer from Minas came fast. Soon others replied as well, but their answers were similar.

“It’s been over six hours... I’ll give you another two.” Kili spoke to the man on the screen.

Those two hours dragged worse than board meetings. Kili fucking hated board meetings. Thank Mahal no more Director’s Board ruling his life or company anymore. Soon he got up. The man had problems walking, he needed a smart way to get him down there without damaging his wounds.

He went to the med lab and a smile adorned his face. A wheelchair.

\------

Fili felt gentle hands wash his face. Someone lifted him. He had no idea where he was or what was going on, but soon he found himself trapped. He felt trapped. He was strapped to some bed and in a strange capsule. The moment he began struggling a calm voice scolded him.

“Stop struggling, you can damage your bone more...” A male voice scolded him.

“Where am I?” Fili begged.

“You just had to wake up now? Sleep!” The voice demanded. Fili could hear some buttons beeping, and felt a shot in his arm.

\------

“What the?” Fili awoke from the nightmare shaken, sweaty and tired.

He looked around only to feel even more strange. He saw white walls. He was on a comfortable bed. The air smelled fresh.

He wanted to get up... but his leg hurt...

“Careful!” The deep voice from his nightmare scolded him. “It took twelve hours to patch up your leg, so no walking!”

He gazed at the man standing in the doorway. He saw dark curly hair, a well chiselled face and deep dark eyes.

“I need to use the toilet.” Fili complained.

“Your chariot has arrived my fair lady...” The brunet pushed a wheelchair at him.

“I fucking hate wheelchairs...” Fili mumbled.

“Do you want to walk again or not?” The young man mumbled back.

Fili grimaced and with difficulty got on the chair.

“What the fuck?” He gazed at his leg.

“Your leg has been reassembled and pinned with titanium bars.” The man explained calmly. “I’m surprised you made it so far on your own feet.”

Fili just looked at him stunned beyond belief.

“Toilet is this way.” The brunet pushed the chair with ease. “You’re welcome by the way.”

“What?” Fili growled.

“For saving your life and patching you up...” The man told him firmly. “Oh and for inviting you into my building and my bunker.”

Fili took in the information with a stone cold glare, only to realise he made it. He made it in.

The man helped him get to the bathroom, and Fili with longing looked at the bath.

“Later once your leg heals.” The man scolded him again.

“I’m dirty...” Fili protested.

“You were sterilized before the operation so technically you’re clean.” The man mumbled.

“It will never fully heal anyway...” Fili was grim. The news broke his life and his career, so now in the middle of the zombie apocalypse there was no chance for anything better.

“We’ll just see about that.” The man was curt in his words. “Dinner?” He proposed.

Fili gazed at him greedily. “I’m starving.” He admitted.

Fili was stunned to get a nicely cooked steak, mashed potatoes and carrots.

“Dig in.” The man told him.

“Where did you get all this?” Fili hissed.

“I got a hefty supply of steaks.” The man laughed.

“What?” Fili was stunned.

“Supplies are not my problems.” The brunet laughed.

“Fucking fantastic!” Fili hissed.

“Sit here in your venom and try not to break anything. And do not get up from that chair. I got work to do!” The man decided Fili’s company was boring.

“Yeah right mommy...” Fili hissed.

The brunet rushed out leaving Fili all alone again.


	3. Chapter 3

Kili was pissed. He wasted precious resources for someone... so ungrateful and negative it threw him off. He regretted now dragging him down with him, he regretted saving him. And that made him an ass. Maybe he should just heal his wounds, give him a pack of food and kick him out. He reached for his hand gun, just to be on the safe side. Aragorn said many survivors were worse than rats.

He sat back at the control panel and set the screen to show what his bunker mate was doing.

“Angel, do you copy?” Lacy’s voice from Minas reached him.

“Minas I copy!” He told her.

“I was getting worried!” She admitted.

“Had some trouble here, but everything is okay, how are you guys doing?” He asked.

“We’re almost there! Captain asks if you can send us a scan of the island.” She laughed.

“Give me ten minutes.” Kili began tapping downloading the maps for them, including heat signature patterns.

Once he sent the maps, he said goodbye to Lacy and urged her to keep in touch, only to look at the screen and not see his unwanted guest.

“Where are you?” He growled, after flicking a few screen he saw the blond back in bed, with his laptop in his lap.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kili hissed to himself, and began writing protocols to get into the laptop. Curiosity was his worst enemy.

\------

Fili had no idea where he was, apart from the fact that he was in a bunker under Erebor and that some lunatic was in charge. So far he saw no other people. Meaning the brunet was down here alone. He took a closer look at his leg. It looked strange. The stitches looked different than those he had before. But his leg did look like it was patched up and put together.

Damn he felt so strange. It was so difficult to get there and now he was stuck... He reached for his bag only to realise all his ammo and weapons were gone.

“For fuck’s sake...” Only his laptop was left.

He plugged it into the nearest socket. A comfort he took for granted most of his life.

Now the electricity worked like a charm, but the real charm was seeing the Wi-Fi icon pop up.

“A password?” He grunted disappointed. With ease he began tapping. He didn’t finish college and work in encryption just to let a simple password get the best of him.

Working for what seemed hours he finally got it, but he had to modify his program a bit, it wasn’t just a password like ‘password’ some idiots used, it was a real encrypted sequence of letters, numbers and symbols.

He blinked, the system he entered... was unlike any he had ever seen. But the real shock was that the internet was still working. At least part of it.

“I can’t leave you alone for even ten minutes?” The cold voice from the doorway made him drop the laptop.

“You forbid me to walk, and you didn’t take my laptop away.” Fili hissed. “Not that I particularly like the fact you took my gun as well.”

“Tough luck, I don’t give a shit what you think.” Kili hissed back. “You’re in my home, so either you obey the rules or...”

“Or what you’ll shoot me?” Fili noticed the gun strapped to his belt.

“Or I’ll kick you out, and considering your leg shooting you would be merciful.” Kili spat at him.

“That is if you can get me and hit me...” Fili grimaced.

The smile that appeared on the brunet’s face had something sinister in it. “Oh shooting is something I know how to do.” He smiled. “As much as you’re annoying, you’re the only person down here. So instead of testing my patience start behaving.”

“So what are the rules?” Fili hissed. “I can’t obey rules if you don’t tell me what they are.”

“Fine!” Kili hissed. “Do not touch any computer equipment, your laptop included. One move to get the gun from me, or any other weapon, I’ll shoot your ass.”

“Clear.” Fili hissed, feeling defeated. His leg was killing him, so fighting or running was out of the question. “That’s it?”

“Do you want more rules?” Kili grimaced.

“As to not test your patience... what’s the list of thing I can do?” Fili growled.

“You can watch all the TV you want or read any book you want.” Kili gave him a kindle and a remote control. “The TV is in the common area. You can eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and get a painkiller if that bone and your ripped muscles won’t let you sleep.”

“Bummer...” Fili hissed. “It was more interesting up there...”

“Once your legs heals... you can go out. With sufficient supplies.” Kili gave in to the anger again. “And never show your face down here.”

“I believe we have a deal.” Fili mocked him, but despite the flash of anger in those dark eyes the brunet didn’t say anything.

“I got work to do.” He hissed after a moment of a silent battle. “Obey the rules.” He reminded him, grabbed the laptop and got out.

“What kind of work?” Fili whispered when he was finally alone.

\------

Days seemed to drag endlessly. Life was so boring, and Fili had a deep feeling everything was out of control. The brunet would leave him for hours on end, meal times at any various time he finished ‘work’. Fili soon realised that most of the time he was alone, left to do whatever he wanted within the rules dictated by the stranger. The rules were enforced with firmness, but within the limits of the main living area he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. He read most of the time, finally trying to face his German, not really knowing why he worked on a language no one used any more. He watched a few films, a few TV shows he wanted to but never had the time. And after what he counted was nearly four weeks, he felt dead bored. The only good thing was sleeping... that was as long as his leg didn’t hurt.

“Time for a check up.” The brunet surprised him one morning after breakfast.

“A check up?” Fili grimaced.

“We’re going to x-ray your leg and see if everything is healing.” The brunet told him.

“You have an x-ray here?” Fili was stunned.

“I have a full medical facility.” The brunet replied without any details.

“Now?” Fili was surprised. The last weeks they barely even talked.

“Now.” The brunet pushed him to one of the locked doors.

The door opened automatically, but Fili tried it before and he was sure there was some kind of lock.

The brunet pushed him along a long corridor, and later turned left, and called the elevator.

The ring surprised Fili, but soon he was pushed inside. He glanced at the controls. They were going four floors down. So that meant the bunker was at least five floors. The corridor was at least one hundred feet long, meaning the whole structure was huge. There were no buttons on the controls, so he couldn’t tell which number floor they were on, or how many floors the structure had.

They stopped and the door rang, and he was pushed into an identical corridor. But these doors had names. And the main door said ‘Medical Ward’. He caught sight of doors called ‘Laboratory’ and ‘Seed bank’ but he was pushed quickly along the corridor.

“Now it’s time to sleep...” The voice surprised him as he was give a shot in the neck from behind.

Kili gazed at the sleeping blond, just a few more weeks and he would get rid of him. Pack him a hefty amount of supplies and send him off. But first he had to make sure his leg healed.

With ease he lifted him, but he was a bit heavier than when he came in. His arms still showed strong muscle mass from the past, strong legs and body, but the time of wandering around made him slimmer a bit. Or so the computer said. Now he was looking better and better, so Kili was hoping the computer would give good news.

He locked the capsule and turned on the scan and rushed upstairs, it would take at least two hours. He wasn’t going to risk the blond having another panic attack inside Pauling, it was the most valuable thing in the bunker. The medical capsule was a prototype, and had many functions, although more were planned. If the world stayed as it was, it was the only medical capsule on the planet. Erebor’s greatest medical project ever.

When he arrived at the controls he saw an incoming message from the Shire Labs. The old Erebor laboratory in Shire was a genetic centre. Over the years they focused on genetically modified food and plants, but now they began experimenting with the virus as well.

“Good to see you Lad!” Radagast greeted him with a smile. The old professor barely noticed the end of the world, focusing only on his research and rats.

“Great to see you too!” Kili smiled. “How is the research going?”

“Slow!” Gandalf came into view. “We managed to isolate the virus, because in fact it is a viral infection attacking brain nerve stems, but it’s replication growth is astonishing.”

“That’s bad news...” Kili inhaled deeply.

“That’s why we’re calling, we know you’re busy... but we need help.” Radagast pushed Gandalf away.

“What kind of help?” Kili asked slowly, the ideas of these two professors caused him countless sleepless nights in the last months.

“Computer power. We managed to draw some data, but we do not have enough computer power to process it, or a program to draw a linear conclusion.” Gandalf told him firmly.

“You will have to give me an outline for the functions...” Kili was stunned, this was one of the worst requests ever.

“We have all the data prepared. We added descriptions so you can understand the properties, and all the data we managed to gather.” Radagast added quickly.

“Send it, I’ll see what I can do in my free time.” Kili whined.

“What’s the human count?” Bilbo appeared.

“Still over 90 thousand.” Kili assured him.

“How many under your care?” Bilbo asked.

“Almost thirty.” Kili smiled.

“Your uncle would have been proud of you!” Gandalf admitted with a huge smile. “Continue the good work!”

“How do you like our new improved garden?” Bilbo asked with a sly smile.

“From the looks up here it’s beautiful!” Kili noticed. “You’re heading for overproduction.”

“In case you send some more starving people our way. I hope more won’t stay here...” Gandalf grimaced.

“The Amish are great!” Bilbo defended their new guests.

“Great as free field labourers...” Gandalf hissed.

“At least they won’t rob you or kill you.” Kili laughed.

“They won’t defend us either, if those come our way...” Radagast was worried.

“Once I find a reasonable armed group, I will send them your way. I still have quite a few groups between ten and fifty people to check out.” He admitted.

“Only when you make sure!” Gandalf pointed his finger.

“You know I would never send anyone dangerous your way...” Kili tried to assure him.

“Anyway, how’s your guest?” Bilbo asked.

Kili grimaced. “The same.”

“You should try to be more friendly... I know you Durins are... stubborn, egocentric, eccentric...” Gandalf mumbled. “But you could at least try.”

“It breaks our heart you’re all alone in a sea of zombies.” Radagast interrupted.

“I’m not alone, I got you guys, and thirty thousand other people to talk to.” Kili tried to convince them.

“You know what? Rob your uncle’s wine cellar and get to know him better, reach out a bit!” Gandalf exclaimed happily.

“Will you guys stop already?” Kili laughed. He noticed the computer sent a report.

“I got to go. Take care guys! I’ll keep an eye from afar.” Kili promised.

“Shire out!” Bilbo declared hanging up.


	4. Chapter 4

Kili walked town to the medical ward and took a look at the results. The bones were setting. The injury despite being very serious, was definitely healing. He read the guidelines the computer gave, and decided to pull him out. After setting him on the wheelchair he printed the guidelines out, and a summary of the results. He glanced at the time, and he still have two hours of peace and quiet.

After leaving him in the common room, Kili deliberated on the advice he got from his friends. The blond was the only person around. So either he managed to get along with him... or he would be stuck alone. Forever. As much as the bunker was safe, it was also dead boring.

So far the blond obeyed the rules he set, never tried to attack him or trick him. Maybe finding a safe truce for living down there was a viable option.

Slowly he got up and walked to the elevator, just to go nine floors down. He packed a large quantity of basic supplies, picked a few fresh tomatoes and carrots from the artificial garden, and finally stopped in front of the most secure part of the pantry. The wine cellar worth over four hundred fifty million dollars.  He picked a good bottle of Cabernet, and rushed back the blond would wake up soon.

Fili awoke alone. Back in the common room, with a few sofas, a circular built in table with a beautiful white leather booth, and a huge TV. He had a bitchy headache.

“How are you?” The question startled him. He noticed the brunet at the door pushing a container with supplies. Fili had no idea where the supplies came from, probably one of the other floors.

“I’ve got a headache.” Fili admitted the pain for the first time.

“I’ll get you something.” The brunet assured him and pushed the container into the kitchen. He rushed up unpacked the supplies, especially those frozen. He left the tomatoes on the counter and reached for the painkillers.

“Here you go.” He passed him a glass of water and the pills. “It’s a side effect of the anaesthetic.”

“You could have just told me to lay still...” Fili growled.

“A risk another panic attack? Sorry but that equipment is more worth than your leg.” Kili scowled.

“Fresh tomatoes?” Fili gazed at the counter greedily.

“I’ve got a garden here.” Kili shrugged as if it was obvious.

“I haven’t eaten anything fresh in... eight months...” Fili inhaled deeply. “The last was a funky green tomato someone had in a pot on the balcony.”

“Do you like gardening?” Kili asked him slowly.

“Why are you asking?” Fili was puzzled. He watch the brunet begin cooking lunch.

“I hate gardening.” The brunet admitted. “And I’ve got lots of work... and well the garden needs some care if we want more fresh food.”

“Are you proposing... that I stay here?” Fili was out of breath. He was thrilled and terrified with the idea... but staying meant safety and food. Going could mean getting eaten even if this place was dead boring.

“Well if you want to stay here, we need to find you something to do, otherwise you’ll go crazy.” Kili pointed out.

“I’m already going crazy....” Fili admitted.

“Do you like pasta marinara with fresh tomato sauce?” The brunet asked for the first time.

“I love your pasta.” Fili easily admitted. The food was great and the brunet knew how to cook.

“Good... if you stay you’re stuck with my cooking.” Kili laughed. “That is if you like to cook...”

“Actually I do.” Fili smiled. “But I’m out of practise.” He added.

“We’ve got all the time in the world.” Kili pulled out wine glasses.

“Wine?” Fili was stunned seeing the bottle.

“We’re going to commit treason.” Kili joked.

“Treason?” Fili was stunned.

“This wine... well it’s a Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992.” Kili laughed. “We’ve got only four bottles of this... in the old world... well let’s say it this way... you could buy a house, a car, get drunk, get drugged and get laid for the price of just one bottle.”

“What?” Fili had wide eyes.

“It’s one of the most expensive wines ever... half a million a bottle. Do you think that on the apocalyptic black market what is its net value?” Kili joked.

“I’ve got no idea... but I’ll drink to that.” Fili laughed.

“This is my way of saying – truce. Stay and let’s try to get along.” Kili laid his cards on the table. “You still can’t touch my computers... but well I’m ready to give up the garden. With time other things as well... but first...”

“I need to gain your trust...” Fili summed up.

“Ditto!” Kili put the food on two plates.

“I’m Fili by the way...” He smiled.

“I’m Kili.” Kili winked, the similar names struck a happy note in his heart.

\------

Fili liked the change. He was slowly gaining mobility. The wheelchair set aside, instead he got crutches. His leg hurt, but it wasn’t as bad. He had a job, something feasible to do. After a long eye scan, he got access to the garden. All the doors on the way were closed, but he could use the elevator to the designated floor, and the garden room.

The first time Kili showed him in, Fili was stunned.

“It’s got an automated watering system, and the lamps are set to imitate sunlight for twelve hours a day. I’ve got no idea about fertilizers... and stuff like that... and I keep missing harvest time...” Kili admitted.

“How often are the harvests?” Fili asked curiously.

“No idea either...” Kili shrugged. “The computer reminds me about this from time to time. It’s set on giving produce all year round.”

“Just how many people was this place designed to house?” Fili was puzzled.

“I never checked. But at least two hundred.” Kili shrugged again. “So can you manage this?”

“I actually know a thing of two about gardening and I bet I’ll find a book about it.” Fili smiled.

“So... get us more fresh food...” Kili began.

“And?” Fili taunted.

“And I’ll grant a wish or two.” Kili winked at him, he turned around and left Fili there with a strange feeling his host was flirting with him.

His days later on became busy. He fertilized the garden, picked the fruit. Found a terminal controlling watering and lighting. It took a while to work it out, the garden wasn’t a normal garden at all, but it gave a lot of fresh food. So much in fact Fili found himself making his grandma’s Italian tomato sauce and storing it in jars. He prepared red paprika, cucumbers. It was so easy. It reminded him of the childhood he lost when his dad died. His grandma and her house, the happy times. Preparing a traditional pantry. Later when his dad died, they stopped going to visit his family. His mom too proud to admit they were struggling. They did even more pantry supplies in those days.

“I just love you tomato and paprika sauce.” Kili inhaled the whole plate with pasta in record time. Italian was something they both loved and somehow they ate it more often than other types of food.

“Bunker made.” Fili joked.

“Erebor made you mean!” Kili laughed. “Any helpings?”

“You’re going to be fat!” Fili smiled happy he liked his food.

“That’s why I have to do more training. It’s all your fault!” Kili laughed.

“I was wondering... we have a big part of the garden unused...” Fili pointed out.

“Your idea being?” Kili asked him slowly.

“Can I get a list of things in the seed bank? Maybe we could add a bit to our menu.” Fili asked.

“Well the idea of the seed bank is a bit different... it’s suppose to be a tool to recultivate the planet in case of an apocalypse.” Kili explained.

“This bunker is that durable?” Fili was stunned.

“Nothing can take us down.” Kili smiled.

“So what do you think?” Fili asked tentatively.

“Well, certainly if we take a bit of some seeds and leave the bank more or less intact, we could plant a few more things... Make a list.” Kili smiled.

“I already got it ready!” Fili pulled out his kindle and opened the list.

“I’ll check the inventory.” Kili smiled.

“I was trying to find some more detailed book...” Fili began.

“About?” Kili asked.

“The proper balance of humidity and shade.” Fili admitted. “The default setting... well I have a feeling it’s not effective.”

“Would you like to talk to a specialist?” Kili asked him slowly.

“Like there are any around.” Fili grimaced.

“What If I knew one? The one who actually designed the garden and technology?” Kili asked.

“I’d be thrilled.” Fili had no idea what to think.

“I’ll come and get you in an hour or so.” Kili rushed out.

\------

When Kili rushed back with a smile on his face, Fili had no idea what to think. He was allowed to enter the corridor Kili never let him enter. Into a room he was never allowed to enter.

Kili motioned him to sit, but Fili was so stunned with the number of screen showing all different types of information he didn’t notice the person on the one in the middle.

“Fili, this is doctor Bilbo Baggins, and he’s not a medical type of doctor. He’s Erebor’s lead plant genetic engineer and post apocalyptic gardening expert.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Fili, I’ve been wondering a lot about you even since you joined Kili.”

“The pleasure is all mine!” Fili tried to compose himself. He was talking to a live person. A real live person. “Where are you now?”

“In the Shire. It’s an old Erebor lab, we mainly dealt with plants and growing produce. Anyway Kili has mentioned you need some help programming the water and light timers at your Specialized Gardening Plant.” Bilbo smiled.

“I’m having trouble keeping the right balance and I’ve noticed that some of our produce begins to rot even without getting ripe...” Fili tried to explain.

“That means you have created a more tropical climate, you should reduce temperate, and reduce watering. Test day by day changing the gauge from time to time.” Bilbo advised.

Soon Fili began asking questions about the garden, about the seeds, what to plant how to gather seeds from produce. When Bilbo began talking about the garden they had, he showed Fili the footage from their garden.

Kili had no idea how talking about the garden lead to showing Fili the satellite photos of the settlement, talking about the people who lived there.

When the transmission ended Fili gazed around the room curiously taking in the various screens and the data. Some unintelligible to him, but he easily noticed the spy feed.

“So this is the next level of trust?” Fili asked with a smile.

“Level 2.” Kili joked. “You get one question.”

“Just one question? How many people made it?” Fili asked.

“The current number is eighty eight thousand.” Kili told him.

“That’s more than I thought.” Fili smiled. “That’s good news.”

“So you’re not going to ask what I’m doing here?” Kili laughed.

“You gave me one question.” Fili reminded him.

“I’m trying to help.” Kili told him. “Giving them information, telling them safe places and routes there. Anything I can do from afar.”

“So I’m feeding the arch spy of the world, guiding people trough a zombie apocalypse?” Fili joked.

“I’m currently in contact with thirty seven thousand.” Kili smiled.

“What about the rest?’ Fili gazed at the world map and the red dots on the screen.

“I’m searching a way to contact them, some don’t want me to contact them.” Kili told him. “Some are not worth contacting.”

“What do you mean?” Fili asked him slowly.

“Sit back down.” Kili pulled another chair closer. He began tapping and soon a list of recording was pulled out.

“Apocalyptic Reality TV.” Kili loaded the first file. “This is a group I located near Boston.”

Fili watched with terror the scenes in front of him. It was typical footage from CCTV, black and white and blurry, but he had no doubt that what he was watching was a rape.

“I watched several groups a longer time... those people are so despicable... that the word despicable does not reflect how bad they are... They eat people... they kill and rape. They have fun in killing people.” Kili was bitter. “I’m definitely not helping those.”

“Thank you.” Fili suddenly said as the brutal film continued.

“For what?” Kili asked him.

“For saving me.” Fili told him.

Kili looked him in the eyes and slowly nodded. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too!” Fili got up and stumbled in the direction of the kitchen. Depressed with what he just saw. The world had ended yet again.


	5. Chapter 5

Bofur had no idea why his boss decided to lock down the building, or why he gave him a huge envelop with thousands of dollars. The frenzy he saw in Kili was new. There was some kind of panic in his eyes Bofur only saw at war. When people faced death. He rushed to his car, and drove to get his brother. Bifur just glared at him, and when Bofur began packing supplies, food and weapons he just stared at him.

“We have to go and save Bombur and the family.” He insisted. Bifur nodded slowly.

They drove up to a supermarket open all day and night. The people who saw them looked surprised as both men packed four full cars with cans, beans, rice and other essential supplies. Bofur reached for the envelope and paid the huge sum in cash.

The clerk seems stunned but accepted the payment. Later it was a struggle to get everything in the car.

Later it was an six house drive to Bombur’s house.

Explaining to Bombur why he couldn’t go to work, and why they had to rush to aunt Phyllis’s house was another hassle. Mathilda did not want to hear it insisting the kids had to go to school. But Bifur wouldn’t have it. He stood in the doorway and shook his head and pointed to the packed cars.

“We can’t let you go...” Bofur told her. “You have to come with us...” He insisted.

He had no idea what finally worked by eventually Mathilda gave in, all the kids were stuffed in two cars, Mathilda’s minivan and Bombur’s truck. Bofur and Bifur scouted the house and threw anything useful into the back of the truck.

“I have no idea why I agreed to this...” Mathilda scowled when they stopped at the gas station. “Where did you get all that money?”

“My boss gave it to me... my yearly bonus.” Bofur grinned and paid the cashier.

“Let’s move!” Bombur suddenly became worried seeing the news on TV. ‘more riots are happening in the centre of Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and countless other cities across the country.  We still do not know...’

They drove on deep into the uninhabited mountains.

\-----

The house looked just like they last seen it. It was dirty, but comfy. It had a well, and good secure doors. It had a fence and a power generator. Three years ago they got some solar cells to heat the water, and a windmill to make electricity. It wasn’t much but it was safer than staying in town.

“Look what I found, do you think it still works?” Borin brought a wind up radio.

“Sure it does!” Bombur smiled, “You just have to wind it correctly.” He showed them.

Soon the kids winded the radio and the first news reached them. ‘Emergency broadcasting system. We advise all to stay in door and bar the doors. You will be safe in your home. Avoid contact with the infected at all cost, even a tiny wound could prove fatal and lead to spreading the disease...’

“The world has gone to hell...” Mathilda had tears in her eyes.

“We have work to do.” Bofur decided. “Borin, Farin, Dainy and Moli!” He called the four oldest kids. “I will give each of you a job, and you will have to do it. Our family’s survival depends on it!” He told them.

“Yes Sir!” The red haired Farin saluted.

“Dainy and Moli, I want you to go to the basement and take a few wooden crates. Wash them and bring them out to dry.” Bofur instructed. “Do you see those trees?”

The girls nodded. “Gather all the apples and pears, those nicest will go to storage in the basement, those not so nice too. Those half spoiled will go for immediate use.”

“Yes Uncle!” The girls nodded.

“Borin and Farin come with me...” He instructed them to take shovels and axes.

“Dig a ditch from that fence to there.” Bofur pointed. “This is our weakest fence, we’re going to make a special trap I learned in the army.”

Soon they were all working, the younger kids helping with the apples and produce, the older rushed to help with the fences.

“We have enough supplies to make it at least few months.” Bombur counted. “But early in the spring, it might get difficult.”

“What can we do?” Mathilda was desperate.

“We plant and sow.” Bofur decided. “We’re going to make it.”

\------

A few weeks they got a huge surprise. A few cars drove up to their gates. Bofur at first wanted to growl at his ex to get lost, but just seeing the crazy red head made him realise how much he missed him and how much he was worried.

Nori just stood there stunned and after the initial shock he just ran to Bofur’s arms. Bofur held him tenderly feeling huge happiness the crazy cheating red head made it after all.

“Good to see you Bofur!” A loud voice surprise them.

“Dwalin?” Bofur grinned seeing the head of Erebor security. “What is this? a fucking homeless shelter?”

“The last safe place we could think of.” Nori told him seriously. “Can we come in?”

Bofur glanced at his brother and saw a small nod from Bifur.

“Come in!” Bofur opened the gate wide open so the caravan of cars could drive in.

Bofur watched with worry the number of cars, two big campers, and the people stepping out.

Dwalin soon pulled him into a bear hug. “I’m glad you made it.”

“I had a head’s start.” Bofur smiled.

“Thanks to Erebor’s code red we all had, but none of us was ready for zombies and an apocalypse.”  Nori joked.

“I was then when it all began, but that’s a long story.” Bofur added.

“We have a lot of supplies to unpack.” Dwalin told him. “Do you have a basement or storage?”

“We’ve got a basement.” Bombur nodded, happy that more people meant more food, and not the other way around.

“Come, there are a few people I’d like you to meet.” Nori pulled him towards the campers. “You remember my brothers Ori and Dori?” Bofur hugged them.

Life changed there, the number of people increased, but that meant more hands to work. Despite Bofur’s anger Nori finally told him about his friend Fili, and why he stayed with him for a few days, which Bofur assumed was Nori cheating on him. Later Nori apologised for being too proud to explain.  And Bofur felt stupid for not trusting him.

Things settled, but the radio stopped sending new news. There was no signal at all. All radio stations stopped transmitting.

“That’s bad news...” Dwalin was grim.

“We’re safe here...” Dori inhaled deeply.

\------

Life became routine, and weeks flew by fast. They had some zombie trouble, but nothing really special. They had weapons, they had a fenced area. They created a lot of traps and borders, controlling the zombies coming closer and limiting any possible access routes. After removing a lot of the trees they got a solid field for planting, and soon they managed to make enough food for the nearly forty people they had.

“We need to start chopping more wood, and think of a way to heat the campers.” Dwalin was grim.

“Can we help?” Mathilda asked.

“Pray for a mild winter...” Dwalin added.

“Do we have any electronic equipment?” Bofur asked him.

“What do you have in mind?” Dwalin hissed.

“I want to build a better antenna. Maybe someone is broadcasting but we’re not hearing.” Bofur pointed out.

“Knock yourself out!” Dwalin pointed to a bag with useless gadgets.

\------

Nori soon spent some time helping Bofur with the wires and cables, but with defeat he admit he had no idea how it worked.

“I wish I knew as well...” Bofur grunted but continued his task.

“Do you really know how to build a new antenna?” Dainy asked her uncle.

“I watched a film about it once.” Bofur told her.

“It would be really cool to listen to some music!” Moli added with a smile.

“Well I certainly doubt anyone is broadcasting any music...” Bofur cringed and continued his job.

\------

He did everything according to what he remembered but it didn’t work.

“Just give up Honey...” Nori embraced him, noticing just how Bofur was frustrated.

“I can’t give up.” Bofur held him with tears. “If I give up... and there really is nothing to listen to... That means the world has truly ended. And I refuse to believe that!” He wiped his tears.

Nori inhaled deeply, and after a soothing kiss he pushed him back at the electronic equipment. “Guess that means you have to make it work Baby!”

“It seems so.” Bofur laughed and continued messing with the cables.

Ten more days of messing about. Bofur was slowly getting really depressed, but Nori kept pushing him. Soon their whole little community was cheering him on.

“I guess I should have learnt more about this crap...” Bofur was grim.

“Just give it one more try!” Nori repeated the same words on.

“One more!” Bofur pointed his finger at him.

“Come on make it work!” Mathilda cheered him on.

“Now or never!” Bofur smiled and plugged the cable and the moment seemed like eternity.

When the speakers began working almost everyone got a heart attack. The music rolled out and Moli danced with enthusiasm.

“What is that song Mommy?” Small Tobur asked.

“The Beach Boys! ‘Good vibrations’!” Mathilda answered.

“I told you they would play music!” Moli cheered.

They listened with awe.

\------

Kili saw the new ping with wide enthusiastic eyes. Someone was listening, that meant he could contact a new group. He zoomed in the map, and the computer quickly counted 52 people. Buckhorn Ridge deep in the mountains.

He zoomed even more, he saw some kind of cabin, trailers, a field. The forest was covering a big part of the location, but the heat signatures said it all.

“Buckhorn Ridge, do you copy?” He called out.

Bofur gazed at the speaker in panic. “We need a microphone!” He explained and began digging in the piles of junk all around.

“These headphones have a microphone!” Farin quickly passed him a headset.

“This will do.” Bofur put it on and plugged in.

“Buckhorn Ridge reporting.” He answered.

“Buckhorn Ridge do you copy?” The voice asked again.

“Buckhorn Ridge here!” Bofur tried to speak up.

“How are you all faring on this beautiful day?” The voice asked.

“Much better now!” Bofur laughed with joy. “Where are you calling from? How are you calling us?”

“Using the satellite system. My location is classified.” The voice replied curtly.

“It’s so good to know other people are still out there!” Bofur exclaimed into the microphone.

“Over eighty seven thousand!” The voice assured him.

“Wow that’s really a lot!” Dainy yelled with enthusiasm.

“That’s really good news!” Bofur smiled happily.

“So how can I help to make your day even better? Do you have sufficient food supplies?” The voice asked.

“We’re okay. Not great but okay!” Bofur told him.

“Your location seems pretty safe and secure, there are no large groups of zombies in the area, the mountains a good natural barrier and shelter.” The voice said. “So unless you have insufficient food, I would advise staying in that location.”

“Is there some kind of government? Some kind of rescue? A safe place?” Dwalin rushed to the microphone.

“The government is gone, there is no rescue, you’re on your own, but I’ll be watching over you.” The voice assured him.

“I know that voice!” Nori realised. “Give me the microphone!” He pushed Dwalin aside and grabbed the headset.

“Kili is that you?” Nori gasped into the mic.

“Nori?” The voice seemed stunned.

“You made it, you fucking bastard!” Nori spoke quickly. “Did the boss make it?”

“No word from him.” Kili’s voice was sad.

“Don’t tell me you’re running this zombie circus from Erebor Central in New York?” Dwalin pushed Nori aside.

“No other choice. There is no one out there.” Kili told them.

“How many of the staff made it?” Dwalin asked.

“I’m alone here. Well not alone, but no staff made it.” Kili told them.

“I was there when Kili went in lock down, he was the one to order the code red.” Bofur told them.

“It’s so great to know you all made it!” Kili was happy.

“So what about the world?” Dwalin asked.

“Most countries are down. From Erebor, Shire is standing strong, they have five thousand people there and they are flourishing.” Kili told them. “I inhabited a few islands... In total I’m now watching over thirty eight thousand and sixty three people!”

“I always told you that you were born for great things!” Nori told him happily.

“Good news is that Gandalf and Radagast are working hard on the virus!” Kili dropped the news.

“Those two retards? They might actually do it!” Dwalin laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

“So you made contact with a new group today?” Fili asked seeing Kili blooming, and in a phenomenal mood.

“Forty two people.” Kili smiled. “They are safe on a mountain in a secluded area. Managing fine with food and security. We can call it Erebor Mountain now, they have seven people from our staff. They laughed that they got the red code, and they organised supplies and evacuated to a cabin my security guard had.”

“Security staff?” Fili was surprised. “I knew two guys who worked here... Dwalin and Nori.”

“Well good news, they both made it.” Kili smiled.

“This truly is a good day!” Fili was really happy.

“I think this calls for another act of treason!” Kili laughed.

“Do we have any more half a dollar worth bottles of wine?” Fili suggested.

“I have something better in mind! This calls for a real celebration and since the world is not over and we found our friends... let’s get wasted!” Kili rushed to the elevator.

Fili with a huge smile went with him. “Do you mind if I take a look into the famous four hundred fifty million dollar wine cellar?”

“There is actually something better in there...” Kili winked and showed him in.

“Wow this place looks fabulous!” Fili gazed around. There were beautiful wooden shelves with countless bottles.

“Now this might not be as expensive as the wine, but well it’s got a better kick to it... and well with one hundred grand per bottle you can’t call it cheap!” Kili pulled two bottles of Glenfiddich whiskey.

“Sounds like a plan! But we need a good comedy!” Fili added.

“Nope... a classic thrilling horror film!” Kili beamed a happy smile.

\-----

Fili had no idea how he ended up stone drunk, watching Alien, with long legs in his lap.

“Another glass?” Kili asked with a huge smile.

“If I drink more I’m going to puke!” Fili warned him.

“A sixty year old whiskey worth one hundred grand? Don’t you even dare!” Kili flirted with ease.

“You might reconsider keeping those legs there...” Fili winked.

“Am I pressing on your stomach?” Kili joked.

“Nope... it’s just I might get strange ideas... since we’re all alone here...” Fili taunted with a spark in his eyes.

“What kind of ideas?” Kili seemed eager to listen to him.

“We never talked about this before... but since it’s just the two of us... well you should probably know...” Fili spoke hesitantly, the whiskey getting to his head. “I’m gay.”

“So am I.” Kili laughed a wild laughter, so catchy and thrilling Fili could only gaze at his lips.

“Are you really?” Fili was entranced.

“I’m not shitting you! You’re the only person here, so if I piss you off...” Kili laughed. 

“Do you really think we’re stuck here forever?” Fili asked him slowly.

“I can’t leave. My life is helping them all... So I’m stuck...” Kili told him. “The world... is pretty much fucked, but we can try to save as many people as possible...”

“I’m going to help you...” Fili assured him.

“I’m happy you’re here...” Kili gently leaned into him, feeling really drunk.

“I’m happy I’m here too.” Fili shifted his arm around him.

\------

Kili had no idea how he got to bed, or why was he so warm. Only to realise a warm arm was around him. The events of yesterday slowly coming back, but yet he had no idea how he ended up in one bed with him.

The gentle kisses going down his face, slowly he made him remember. The night full of love. The gentle kisses, the tender touch.

“This will change a lot...” He mumbled.

“For the better.” Fili whispered and continued kissing his neck.

“You know we’re pretty much stuck here together?” Kili whispered.

“That’s the good side of it... you can’t cheat on me... you can’t leave me...” Fili continued kissing.

“Like I’d ever do that...” Kili laughed.

“In the real world... we would have stopped on what was before... we would hate each other and go our separate ways...” Fili grimaced.

Kili just laughed. “Nah, I’d fuck you nonetheless!” He laughed.

“I’m that cute?” Fili flirted.

“Nope... but you’ve got a great ass!” Kili shifted to lie on him.

\------

Fili was transfixed with the changes, Kili was nicer than ever, always smiling and flirting. Sending so much affection his way, unlike anything Fili experienced before. Sure he had relationships, sure he loved his lover’s affections but this was way more. Maybe it was the seclusion being locked in a bunker and stuck together. Maybe it was the idea that the world had ended. But he didn’t care, he immersed in the feeling of being happy with all his heart.

It was like night and day. They would goof around. Kili once got the crazy idea of getting a sun tan using the plant lamps. It ended with both of them getting a mild sunburn. Another time Kili suggested they both walked around naked, which made Fili laugh so hard he barely managed to finish his breakfast.

“If you wanted to give me a heart attack...” He continued laughing.

“Why not? We’re all alone here!” Kili smiled.

“Somehow that sounds good on your lips...” Fili kissed him tenderly.

“So would you like to get to know my computers?” Kili proposed, feeling that his trust for the blond needed no more tests.

“Why would you suggest that now?” Fili pulled him into his lap.

“Well... I trust you since I fucked you... but well that’s funny to say.” Kili giggled. “I just... I know you know your way around the equipment and well there is a lot of  work there.”

“So what would you like me to do?” Fili asked.

“Just one question, what did you graduate?” Kili asked him slowly.

“Computer Science at West Point.” Fili confessed.

“So you’re former military?” Kili was surprised.

“Yup... I specialised in encryption and intelligence.” Fili replied truthfully.

“No wonder you were able to break the lock...” Kili whispered in shock, feeling a bit suspicious.

“That wasn’t easy...” Fili admitted, holding him tight. “I’m more used to hacking stuff than opening ZTX 98321 locks...”

“Don’t you even try to betray me...” Kili’s eyes went narrow.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Fili tried to smile seeing the stone cold glare.

“Good!” Kili kissed him one last time and got up. “Ready for the grand computer tour?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Fili smiled hesitantly, there was something in Kili deeply bothering him now, as if telling was truth broke some balance between them.

“Kili?” Fili pulled him closer again.

“Yes?” Kili was still a bit cold.

“I really understand what you’re doing... I’m not going to help you, and I’m not planning to cause any trouble.” Fili embraced him tenderly and kissed him gently.

Kili didn’t say anything, he just kissed him back strongly and pulled him along the corridor.

\------

Fili was simply puzzled. He always thought he knew a lot about computers, but the moment Kili gave him a working space, he realised he had never seen a computer like that. The system was unlike any other, a hint at Linux but not the same. It took Kili a while to show him how to navigate in the system, and use basic functions he wanted him to.

“So what’s the job?” Fili asked him.

“There is one thing I just don’t have time for, but it needs to be done before we contact a new group. Infiltration, and since you’re a military specialist in that, you’re going to give it a try.” Kili smiled tenderly, his legs were brushing against Fili’s and one hand was on his knee. The physical contact seemed to calm him down.

“Ok, what tools do I get?” Fili asked.

“Basic satellite feed.” Kili zoomed in on the group he wanted Fili to start with. “This one is actually pretty ease to do, but I simply don’t have time. They settled in an Orthanc office building, meaning there is CCTV inside and outside.”

“Does CCTV work without power?” Fili realised.

“It doesn’t, but these guy have power. Big buildings like that have power generators.” Kili pointed out. “They made it work and gave us the chance to oversee them.”

“So what am I looking for?” Fili asked.

“Anything atrocious. The list ranges from murder of live people, rape of anyone any age, I’ve even seen a six year old boy...” Kili paused and shook his head. “Cannibalism.” He mumbled. “I always try to determine who is the leader, and I try not to show I’m looking. So don’t move the cameras.”

“So here is the CCTV list, you can use the four screens here.” Kili pointed out.

Fili reached for the headset and turned on the view from the first camera. On another screen he opened a basic drawing program he found and he began drawing the building, making notes how many people in what room, and what was the room’s current function.

He had no idea how much time passed, until Kili embraced him. “I’m getting hungry. Any conclusions?”

“They are military or police, or some other force. Very well organised with a real structure.” Fili summed up his conclusions.

“Did you find their food source?” Kili asked.

“They have a guarded pantry.” Fili picked the right room. It was well stocked with cans and supplies. “They also planted a garden on the roof of the building.” He showed Kili.

“That’s good news. Now a few more days of observation...” Kili smiled. “I’ll make lunch and call you when it’s ready.” He gently kissed him. “Don’t touch my computers!” He added with a grin.

Fili pressed another kiss on his lips. “The food?”

Kili just winked and left, and Fili focused on his task.

\-----

“I think we need to set up a schedule.” Kili noticed when Fili arrived for lunch.

“The job is pretty absorbing.” Fili admitted.

“I still have no idea about the garden.” Kili complained.

“Don’t worry. I was thinking, from breakfast till lunch, I’ll work on the garden, at least every other day, and after lunch it will be computers. I set the system to record anyway.” Fili smiled. “So I’ll just sit down and fast forward.”

“That sounds great!” Kili smile.

After six days Fili felt quite certain these people were normal. In the mean time they stood guard, acted rational and civilized. They lived according to rules and in order.

“So you think they are normal?” Kili sat with Fili watching the footage before making the final decision.

“75%.” Fili smiled.

“Good enough, let’s get to know them and continue observing them.” Kili smiled. “Since this is your case, you’re doing the boring talking.” He smiled and kissed him.

Fili stepped back and let Kili do his magic. He loved observing him at work, Kili was always so focused and efficient at what he was doing. Now we was tapping like crazy, pinging for contacts.

“Do you know that what you’re doing is actually illegal?” Fili smiled touching his leg gently.

“That’s fun part... No one to punish me for it...” Kili smiled.

“I’ll punish you for it later...” Fili rasped in his ear, just to get a tender kiss.

“Sit back on your spot... We’ll have time for that later...” Kili smirked. “This is a list of questions I devised. So just fill in the questionnaire.”

“Let me take a look.” Fili browsed the thirty seven questions. “So if they ask who’s calling what do you say?”

“Classified.” Kili laughed.

Fili laughed. “Wouldn’t it be better to just give your name?”

“And say what? I’m Kili from Erebor, by the way I’m hacking you?” Kili joked.

Fili mused on the thought. “Do you mind if I’ll use my name?”

“And what if they ask where you are?” Kili mumbled. “They all want solid locations, hoping to come and join you...”

“Good question...” Fili inhaled. “Classified?”

“That’s my only idea.” Kili shrugged.

“Let’s try this.” Fili glanced back at the screen.

“We’ve got a ping, meaning they do have an active radio.” Kili smiled.

“What now?” Fili asked.

“Now you wait for them to called out and respond after a few tires. Never make it seem easy.” Kili kissed him chastely and transferred the signal channel to Fili’s main screen.

“I don’t think I have to tell you not to let them know we were watching them and all that stuff...” Kili grinned.

“I’m a natural spy.” Fili laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

Fili had to wait two days. Finally a bored voice at exactly noon began calling out. With no belief anyone would answer. The problem was the bullshit this guy was transmitting.

‘Woohoo is anyone out there? Of course no one is out there, everyone is a fucking zombie... This zombie apocalypse sucks so badly... And here they tell me to do this fucking  pointless job... calling out to nothing! What does he think that zombies will learn to use radios?”

Fili turned the speaker on and for almost an hour they listened to most hilarious rumbling in the world...

“This guy is just...” Kili laughed. “I want to see him!” He zoomed on the camera.

“Sure looks like a malcontent.” Fili pointed out.

“At least he’s bluntly honest and now we know answers to like four questions.” Fili began making notes.

“Wait a moment and call out.” Kili continued laughing.

“Do you really want to talk to this loony?” Fili asked.

“Now if you ask me... after almost a year of zombie apocalypse, with no contact or anything, having a well organised group... Who would get the job of minding the radio and calling out?’ Kili pointed out.

“The most useless guy ever.” Fili grunted.

“That means they are basically feeding him, and tolerating his rumbling, without shooting him.” Kili made him realise.

“That’s very... humane.” Fili summed up.

“Civilised. Let’s face it I would shoot the guy for just listening to an hour of his bullshit...” Kili admitted with a huge grin.

“Let’s scare him...” Fili winked at him.

“Lead the way master spy!” Kili pointed to the screen.

Fili reached for the microphone, pulled on the head set and calibrated the antenna. He saw a shy nod from Kili. And in the middle of the man’s rumbling about the out toilet. He decided to comment.

“Outhouses really suck...” He answer the man.

“That’s what I’ve been telling them all along! We need a new solution!” The man said as if not noticing someone joined the conversation.

Kili could barely keep his cool, on the side he was giggling like crazy, covering his mouth with his hand. Fili on the other hand felt an iron will to stay calm.

“I would advice building a water tower, which would create water pressure and the normal flush toilets would work.” Fili calmly answered.

“That’s a genius idea! Why didn’t I think of that in the first place!” The man ran out of the room leaving the radio alone.

“That guy! He’s a pure lunatic!” Kili was laughing like crazy now.

“Do you think he’ll notice he actually talked to someone?” Fili was laughing with him.

Soon they got the answer, two strong looking men, one evidently the leader, walked in dragging the idiot.

“Now say that again.” They could hear the voice, the idiot left the microphone on.

“The man on the radio said we could build a water pressure tower to have normal toilets...” The man’s voice was a thin squeak.

“Either his having delusions again or he can’t even use the radio.” The other man growled.

“You try, I’ll find him something else to do.” The man grimaced.

They watched the man pull the idiot out and hand him a broom, it was evident the man was too scared to protest.

“Orthanc Tower does anyone copy?” The man called out in a professional manner.

“Good evening Orthanc.” Fili greeted him.

“So for once that idiot said the truth...” the man hissed more to himself.

“I’m lieutenant Faramir Steward, who am I speaking to?” The man introduced himself giving full credentials.

Kili immediately began tapping searching the databases and soon Fili had a profile on one of his screens.

“Private Philip Oakenshield.” Fili introduced himself. “I’m calling to ask if you need any aid.”

“Is the military still working? What about the government? Pentagon?” The man anxiously shot questions.

“Nothing.” Fili answered. “It’s just us, a few satellites, and any long distance help we can give.”

“So the whole world really went to hell?” Faramir asked.

“I wouldn’t say so, eighty six thousand people still out there.” Fili assured him.

“That’s good news!” the man smiled. “So you guys basically give guidelines and news?”

“More or less.” Fili replied. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

For a few minutes they worked on the questionnaire, Faramir had no reservations answering questions.

“So what’s going on?” The other man walked in.

“The idiot was right.” Faramir whispered. “I’ll brief you shortly.”

“Is there any immediate need you need to address?” Fili asked him calmly.

“Our food supply is not sufficient for our needs, we’re basically living on half rations.” The man confessed.

“I’ll think of something.” Fili assured him. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow ten am.”

“Copy that tomorrow ten am.” Faramir ended the call.

Kili and Fili watched the two men talk a long time, Faramir seemed to get scolded.

“He was really trusting.” Kili commented.

“I’ll set it to record... Let’s get some dinner!” Fili pulled him closer.

“I’m hungry for something else...” Kili joked with a sly smile on his lips.

“You’re insatiate...”Fili smiled into the deep kiss.

“You have no idea...” Kili pushed him back against the nearest wall.

\------

Fili loved waking up with Kili’s long legs tangled with his. With his wild hair on his chest, and the steady weight of his head on his arm.

“I’m going to stay here with you, as long as you want to stay here.” Fili gently whispered as he felt Kili shift a bit.

“I love you...” The soft whisper knocked Fili out.

“I love you too.” He kissed his hair and embraced him tenderly. “What do you want for breakfast sleepy head?” He whispered tenderly, immense happiness filling his chest.

“Scrambled eggs...” Kili giggled.

“I’ll try to plant chickens... maybe Bilbo has a recipe for that...”Fili laughed. He loved the cheerful sound coming from Kili’s mouth.

\------

Around ten he began listening in and checking the news group.

“So if they lack food what do we tell them?” Fili asked him.

“Today might be a bit more difficult, it’s not going to be that friendly guy or the lunatic, but the boss.” Kili pointed out.

“We’ll handle it together.” Fili hand his hand.

“We will.” Kili smiled.

“Orthanc do you copy.” Fili called out seeing the man waiting by the radio.

“Orthanc reporting.” The voice was of the boss, Fili couldn’t let them know he was seeing them so he continued.

“Who am I speaking to?” He asked.

“Captain Boromir Steward.” The man calmly replied.

Kili immediately pulled out the files. Just one glance at the profile and Fili knew why this man was in charge. First military, later police. A course book record. Several awards for courage in the line of battle.

“I must admit your files are impressive.” Fili allowed himself to comment. “I salute you on your Purple Heart in combat.”

If the man was surprised he did not show it. “Thank you.” He replied calmly. “I would like to know who I’m talking to.”

“Private Philip Oakenshield, originally from Fort Belvior, released three years ago due to combat injuries, but the end of the world got me reinstated.” Fili said.

“Which Unit?” Boromir asked calmly.

“NGA.” Fili replied.

“How the hell did you get injured in battle?” The man was firm.

“That’s a long story, but well we do have the time. I was dispatched for Afghanistan for intelligence purposes, on the way to the location I was supposed to evaluate the squad I was with got attacked. Only three of us made it out.” Fili explained. “I couldn’t walk for almost a year, so I was released. I found myself in the right place and the right time when the end came, and back to the computers and satellites.”

“While in Afghanistan have you met a guy called Dwalin?” The man suddenly asked.

“Yeah! He helped me a lot later on. He’s actually alive.” He told the man.

“Is he?” Boromir showed surprised.

“He’s fortified on a mountain with half of his former squad.” Fili informed him. “Nori made it too.”

“That truly is great news.” The man admitted. “Can you check a man called Aragorn Strider? He serves in the National Guard?”

“Captain Aragorn Strider is fine, he’s currently on a tropical island. He saved nearly four hundred people.” Fili said lightly.

“Now that is even better news, is there a way I can contact him?” Boromir asked.

“Give me a moment.” Fili turned to Kili.

“I’ll call them out, we’ll redirect the call.” Kili immediately decided.

“Minas do you copy?” Kili called after checking the satellite.

“Minas here! How are you?” Lacy immediately responded.

“I’m fine!” Kili assured her. “I’m playing receptionist, someone wants to talk to Aragorn, can you please get him.”

“Five minutes please.” Lacy asked.

Soon Aragorn responded.

“Hey, we just located an old friend of yours who really wants to talk to you.” Kili told him.

“That’s great news!” Aragorn was all enthusiasm.

“I’m redirecting the call.” Kili told him. “Stay online.”

“I’m redirecting a call from Minas, so please wait on the line.” Fili told Boromir and soon the two men shared a very long and emotional conversation.

“Angel are you there?” Aragorn finally called out.

“Yes Aragorn.” Kili told him.

“Thank you! Do you think you could do a three way conversation with Dwalin?” Aragorn asked.

“I’ll work it out.” Kili assured him. “Tomorrow around noon?”

“Sounds fine!” Aragorn was very happy. “Minas out!”

“So there are two of you?” Boromir noticed.

“Yup, we’re a team.” Fili told him calmly.

“So what’s next?” Boromir asked.

“We evaluate your group and see if there is any way we can help. But we need honesty on your part.” Fili informed him.

“Fine what do you need to know?” Boromir asked.

“Prepare a list of people, including age and profession. I heard that your basic problem is food supply?” Fili asked.

“Yes, we’ve got some fuel, and other resources, but food is a constant worry.” Boromir admitted.

“We have a few ideas with that. Are you ready to consider a looting trip?” Fili asked.

“We looted all the places of interest nearby.” Boromir grunted in a dominant tone.

“We’ll work something out.” Fili assured him.

“So tomorrow?” Boromir asked.

“Ten am.” Fili confirmed.

“Orthanc out!” Boromir ended the conversation.

Two days later Kili glanced at the list of survivors. “They are one of the best organised groups. Firm structure, over half are police or military.”

“What do you have in mind?” Fili asked.

“A long trip to a place way better with a very big food supply but in need of great security.” Kili smiled. “We’re going to send them to the Shire.”

“That’s like...” Fili glanced at the map. “Four hundred miles.”

“They should make it.” Kili told him. “I’ll prepare a looting map.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fili smiled.

“Seems like everyone is going to the Shire and we’re stuck here...” Kili whined.

“You’re stuck here with me.” Fili kissed him. “And remember The Shire does not have these resources.”

“I know.” Kili was gloomy.


	8. Chapter 8

“Do you think someone will eventually try to loot New York?” Kili was laying on Fili’s naked chest. Now his lover was much better built, once his leg healed he spent at least an hour a day training at the gym.

“Perhaps. Those crazy groups are getting desperate their food supplies dwindling...” Fili pointed out. “Is the building secure?”

“Pretty much. The bunker is basically indestructible, but on the whole the whole building is durable.” Kili made him realise. “The shield used on the outside was tested in combat conditions, it withstands standard anti tank and demolishing missiles. But I doubt it would take a nuclear explosion.”

“Why didn’t you take more people in?” Fili asked the question bothering him.

“When... the news came I had no idea if it was air transmitted or viral. The basic priority was keeping the bunker secure. Later it was too late...” Kili whispered. “I warned the Erebor employees, that’s why so many made it... but in fact this is the apocalypse.”

“Thank you for taking me in...” Fili held him tenderly.

“Thank you for joining me...” Kili snuggled against him. “Forever in here alone would be hell...”


	9. Chapter 9

The attack in the hotel was just a first step and he knew he had to get out. Any way possible. His brain worked quickly, down was out of the questions. His only chance was the helicopter on the roof. Getting there was a bloody path, zombie after zombie. The world was going to end. In his brain he was already calculating the speed of this disease spreading. The wounded turned into infected. The infected attacked healthy people. A circle. A cycle.

He killed them without remorse, getting home his only goal. He prayed the reckless Kili listened to him for once in his life. Instead of doubting and analyzing the order.

The helicopter. He prayed it was one of those models he knew how to fly. And he prayed Mahal forgave him not praying for so many years.

Reaching the roof he saw some people who had the same idea, but it soon turned out none of them knew how to fly. The helicopter had low fuel and was a bit overloaded, but they managed to fly away from the city. Seeing the controls flash red, Thorin without hesitation landed.

It was a more rural area, so he took whatever seemed useful and decided to walk North. North seemed the best option towards the Russian border. He had enough dollars in his bag to get a transport there.

His brain was still analyzing the news, and slowly he understood making it to New York was impossible. He had to think of something closer... way closer.

Erebor had a ship docking now in Tianjin Port, if he could contact them... In the nearest village he asked for a phone, praising Mahal for his language skills. He told the people a disease was coming, and after finding the phone he managed to get in touch with the captain. His orders were clear, to load the ship with food supplies, fuel and weapons.

“What’s the budget?” The captain Gloin asked.

“No limit, you have to get it done immediately. I’m on my way!” Thorin told him. “Do not let the infected board the ship!”

“Infected with what?” Gloin hissed.

“Zombies.” Thorin was grim.

“You’re shitting me?” Gloin asked in a dead serious voice.

“No...” Thorin grimaced.

He bought a car using the dollars he had, the farmers shocked with the huge sum in dollars. The car was old but it was working. Thorin drove as fast as possible.

As he was passing village by village, town by town, some were still free of infection, while others seemed swarmed.

He didn’t hesitate, in a calmer town he bought a mobile phone and a card. He called the ship again, his orders even more firm. He asked them to set out and stay within mobile phone range.

“We supplied to the maximum capacity. We’ve got everything you asked.” Gloin told him.

“Good!” Thorin told him firmly. “I’ll arrive tomorrow morning.” He assured him.

“We’re waiting for you.” Gloin assured him.

“Stay safe!” Thorin hissed and hung up.

Thorin drove to Cangzhou but the situation was getting worse and worse. More and more zombies.

Soon he drove into a street swarmed, so he drove into an underground parking lot of a posh hotel. There were less zombies there, but soon he got to them and locked the entrance door.

He swiftly pulled out his phone. “I’m going to be delayed.” He told Gloin.

“We’re not going anywhere without you.” Gloin assured him quickly.

“Thank you!” Thorin told him.

He walked into the elevator and reached the top floor. When the door opened the heard a loud gun click, and stared into cold blue eyes.

“Thorin Durin?”

“Thranduil Mirkwood?” Thorin was grim, of all the people he could meet at the end of the world it just had to be that ass.

“Get in! You can still fly a helicopter?” The blond man smirked.

“You’ve got a helicopter?” Thorin asked him grimly.

“On one condition.” Thranduil bargained immediately.

“What condition?” Thorin wasn’t happy.

“You take us with you.” Thranduil demanded.

“Us?” Thorin asked.

“A drink before the trip?” Thranduil asked him into the penthouse. “You remember my son Legolas? My daughter Tauriel?”

“A pleasure to see you both alive and well.” Thorin nodded.

“So do we have a deal?” Thranduil asked slowly.

“We have a deal.” Thorin nodded. “Show me to the helicopter.”

“There is one problem with that...” Legolas mumbled and pointed to the roof, filled with zombie.

“Do you have more weapons?” Thorin asked.

“Who do you think we are?” Tauriel smiled and pulled out her bow.

Thorin just smiled.

\------

Gloin was dead worried, his boss was one of the most serious people in the world. If he said zombies, that meant zombies were real. He didn’t hesitate, he swiftly ordered a huge transport, and later with difficulty they packed the containers on board.

Every hour was making him anxious and determined.

“What are we waiting for dad?” Gimli asked.

“For Thorin.” Gloin insisted.

“Do you think he will make it ?” Gimli asked.

“If anyone can... it’s him.” Gloin replied.

“Let’s hope you’re right.” Gloin inhaled with pain.

When they heard the helicopter they looked out onto the deck surprised.

“Thorin?” Gloin smiled seeing his boss get out.

“Good to see you too! We’ve got some company.” Thorin hugged his old friend.

“We’re really happy you made it!” Gloin assured him with a huge smile.

“We need to get on deck, and we need to set course.” Thorin told him.

“Where the hell are we going?” Thranduil demanded.

“Somewhere safe.” Thorin assured him.

“I’m curious too.” Gloin inhaled.

Thorin had no doubt about their destination.

\-------

“Do you trust your crew?” Thranduil asked slowly.

“Gloin and Gimli are like family.” Thorin assured him. “But most are just regular employees. Why are you asking?”

“One of your men is acting very strange...” Thranduil motioned a man walking around the deck.

“Get your gun.” Thorin whispered and his old competitor nodded.

Together they fallowed the man towards one of the containers.

“Moaning?” Thranduil asked and Thorin nodded.

“What are you doing?” Thorin asked the man.

“I do not understand...” The man replied in Russian.

“What are you doing?” Thorin pointed his gun at the man and asked in Russian.

“I’m just taking care of my family...” The man mumbled.

“Step aside!” Thorin demanded.

“Over my dead body...” The man hissed showing a switch.

“A bomb?” Thranduil was surprised.

“Go and fuck yourself! Step away from the container!” Thorin demanded firmly still holding the gun.

“Fuck you!” The man growled and pressed the button. The ship shook with the explosion. Thorin grabbed the railing and so did Thranduil, but the man swayed overboard.

“What the fuck was that?” Gloin yelled form the top deck.

“A fucking dick with a bomb!” Thorin yelled back.

“More like a mosquito bite...” Gloin laughed pointing to the damage. When the ship stopped swaying soon the captain regained control.

“What are we going to do with this?” Thranduil pointed to the zombie container.

“We’re going to keep his family safe...” Thorin smiled an evil grin. “Until Elrond decides to chop them up for samples.”

“Elrond?” Thranduil hissed with spite. “We’re going to that frozen dump you set up?”

“Do you know another zombie free zone?” Thorin smiled.

“I’ll help with the virus.” Thranduil finally nodded but the scowl did not leave his face.

“Make me not regret picking you up.” Thorin smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

Arriving at the isolated frozen island, the ship faced their first problem. The idiot blew up a part of the electronic centre and screwed their communication system. They had no way to alert Elrond of their arrival.

Fortunately a scouting unit noticed their entry into the bay. The compound was deep underground and without inside access they would never be granted entry.

“Dock the ship here, the squads will transport the cargo. Mark that special container so that it goes in secure.” Thorin ordered.

“Yes Sir!” The man shouted.

“Look what the cat brought in!” Dain laughed seeing his father’s cousin. “I thought you said your foot will never stand on this icy asshole of the world ever again!”

“Zombies changed my mind.” Thorin hissed.

“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Dain was stunned.

“We’ve got a full container.” Legolas pointed.

“For real?” Dain was speechless.

“For real.” Thorin confirmed calmly.

\------

“So the world has ended?” Elrond was sitting in the conference room down in the bunker.

“It went to hell.” Thranduil said grimly.

“It sure did...” Elrond gazed at him. “Especially now that you’ve got an invitation here...”

“No choice.” Thorin mumbled. “He had a helicopter and he can shoot.”

“What divine qualities.” Elrond mumbled. “So basically you want me to analyse this devilish virus?”

“I’m going to help.” Thranduil volunteered.

“Yippee ki-yay.” Elrond grunted. “What about Erebor?”

“Still no contact. The antenna on the ship is damaged beyond repair.” Gloin was depressed.

“You don’t have a communication system here?” Thranduil asked.

“We do... however...” Elrond grimaced.

“However?” Thranduil demanded.

“We need to wait for the satellite to come in position.” Elrond was grim.

“How long?” Thranduil stared him down.

“At least three more weeks.” Elrond informed him. “That is if the satellite comes in position. We’re in a very secure location.”

“So secure we can’t even make sure the world is still there.” Gloin wasn’t pleased at all.

“I’m going to build us a better antenna.” Thorin decided. “I’ve got to make sure Kili is okay.”

\-----

Easier said than done. Thorin was getting desperate, but he had to continue. He had lots of parts, but he needed more, he reused parts from their electronic equipment, but half a year into building the new antenna still nothing. They picked up a few short range messages about the zombies and the world’s end. But they had no access to the satellite.

He stripped the ship’s electronic, he reused anything he could find. Finally he did it, out of random parts he made a satellite dish.

But the first attempt to connect was unsuccessful.

“What the hell?” Thorin growled. He had three satellites in range now, two Russian and one of Erebor’s.

“What’s the problem?” Tauriel asked him. Over the months the witty girl and boy became his construction cheerleaders.

“I signalled a code red...” Thorin began thinking out loud.

“What does that mean?” Legolas asked.

“Well... Kili might have been at Erebor Central.” Thorin told them.

“Your nephew?” Tauriel asked.

“If he’s in the bunker... what would I do in his place?” Thorin asked out loud.

“And what would you do?” Tauriel asked.

“Having all the computer resources in the world... I would take over all the satellites and code them.” Thorin concluded and wide smile adorning his face.

“This mean he’s there.” Legolas smiled.

“It does.” Thorin was happy.

“What now?” Tauriel asked.

“Now we reach out.” Thorin told them and began tapping. “And pray he’ll work it out.”

\------

Kili was having a lazy morning. Full of sex and tender kisses. And ice cream. He loved Fili’s recipe for lactose free sorbet lemon ice-cream.

“Anything interesting?” His lover asked with a grin.

“You...” Kili kissed him gently.

The computer beeping broke their kiss.

“I’m going back to the garden, keep up the good work...” Fili kissed him and rushed to his duties.

“Let’s take a closer look...” Kili zoomed onto the location, but there were no heat signatures there.

“What the?” He hissed and engaged his program to scan the location.

But soon he saw a flashing screen ‘Classified’.

“Now that’s something new.” Kili smile, he always liked a challenge, and this whatever it was, was a prime challenge.

When Fili came in with lunch Kili was so focused on his work, Fili gave up and began feeding him.

“What’s going on?” Fili asked curiously.

“I had a ping from this location.” Kili pointed to the satellite.

“What is it?” Fili asked.

“Classified.” Kili grunted. “At least so says the computer.”

“Let me guess... you’re not buying that.” Fili laughed. “Do you need some help?”

“Come here Sunshine, find the right satellites.” Kili kissed him and pushed a chair at him.

“So what’s your theory?” Fili asked him.

“It’s some kind of secret base.” Kili slowly had an image of the complex, the computer working full time now.

“Military?” Fili contemplated.

“Too elaborate.” Kili bit down on his lower lip. “I’ve got an idea...”

He rushed to his old room, and pulled out of the boxes he had in the closet.

“What’s that?” Fili saw him pull out a laptop.

“My uncle’s laptop.” Kili smiled. “If anyone knew about it, it would be him.”

“He was that good?” Fili followed him back to the control room.

“He was the best.” Kili admitted. He plugged in the laptop and turned it on.

\------

“What’s going on?” Legolas was spooked when he saw something or someone establish connection with them.

“We’re being infiltrated.” Thorin smiled.

“Isn’t that bad?” Tauriel asked him.

“There is only one person with the ability to do so.” Thorin was really happy.

\------

“It looks like some kind of lab...” Fili watched the footage from inside the bunker. “How many people are there?”

“Fifty nine.” Kili summed up. “Plus twenty zombies in lock down.”

“Why are they keeping them?” Fili wondered.

“Look at the lab.” Kili pointed.

“They are experimenting? Do you think they are trying to find the cure?” Fili was puzzled.

“Let’s find out.” Kili began downloading their files.

\------

“Someone just hacked my research!” Elrond scolded Thorin.

“Sit back and wait.” Thorin smiled.

“Why are you so happy?” Thranduil asked him slowly.

“Just a few more hours.” Thorin left them alone.

\-----

“They are further in their research than Bilbo.” Fili noticed reading the files.

“They have better equipment.” Kili glanced at the lab again. “Head scientist Elrond Rivendell, new research is done by Thranduil Mirkwood. He was one of our biggest competitors.”

“So that place is competition?” Fili asked him.

“Not sure.” Kili continued working on his uncle’s laptop and the main panel at the same time. “Take a look.” He gave him the laptop with a triumphal smirk.

“It’s Erebor’s?” Fili saw the design of the station on the laptop with all the technical details.

“Not officially, officially that place doesn’t exist.” Kili bit down on his lip.

“Are we making contact?” Fili smile.

“We have no choice now. They know we’ve hacked them.” Kili kissed him and rested back on his seat.

“Don’t you want to watch them a bit first?” Fili asked.

“What would you advise?” Kili asked.

“You’re the boss when it comes to this.” Fili pointed to the screen. “But if they know... there is no point beating around the bush.”


	11. Chapter 11

Kili spent another two hours analysing everything about the secret base. He was fairly sure they were normal and sane. Trying to fix the virus and the damage, so finally with Fili’s approval he made first attempt to make contact.

The answer was prompt. “Finally!” A warm voice answered.

Kili sat there speechless. All his hopes lost a long time ago... “Uncle?” He whispered.

“I’m so happy you finally listened to me for once!” Thorin praised him.

“How did you make it? Why did you go there? Are you okay?” Kili shot questions with the speed of light.

“It was a difficult path, but “Moria” was in a dock nearby, so I hoped on taking along the Mirkwoods and arrived here.” Thorin told him.

“Why didn’t you contact me earlier?” Kili asked with tears in his eyes.

“Look at their satellite...” Fili pointed to the image on the screen. “They simply couldn’t.” Kili nodded with understanding.

“Why would you build a fucking lab in the middle of nowhere?” Kili shot another question.

“So that no one would ever find it.” Thorin replied.

Kili wanted to ask what kind of research was done there that needed such seclusion, but remembering the name Elrond he quickly concluded it was illegal research.

“I missed you!” He had tears again in his eyes.

“I missed you too... you have no idea how much I worried. Not knowing if you got my message...” Thorin told him.

“I got it... I was working at night when it came... so I signalled code red and set Central into lock down.” Kili added.

“I’m proud of you...” Thorin praised him. “I’m so happy you’re safe... How many people are with you?”

“At the beginning I was so scared... so I was alone for many weeks...” Kili told him.

“But now?” Thorin prompted.

“I picked up an injured guy who managed to break in...” Kili explained.

“Break into Central?” Thorin mused. “He must be really good...”

“Yeah, he’s a military IT specialist.” Kili added with pride. Fili prove really helpful, knowing many languages and having lots of skills.

“Do you trust him?” Thorin whispered.

“Yes... He’s a friend of Dwalin's.” Kili added. “Dwalin said he wanted you to hire him when he finished recuperating after his release from service.”

“Philip Oakenshield?” Thorin immediately remembered the CV Dwalin brought in a few weeks before his trip from China. He could easily remember the huge recommendation, his old friend was convinced Philip was one of the smartest and most talented computer specialists the military had.

Then it dawned on him. “Dwalin is okay?” He demanded.

“Most of our staff is. They listened to the code red and evacuated. Dwalin, Nori, Bofur and the whole crew is currently on a mountain in a safe location.” Kili told him. “Do you remember the old genetic lab you wanted to close down?”

Thorin crossed his brows. “The Shire run by that lunatic Gandalf?” He could still remember the huge fight he had with the old man, and his right hand Bilbo. The cute man with golden locks almost drove him crazy during the board meeting. They were both convinced that old lab still had potential and firmly negotiated a two year trial period. Thorin was against spending more money on genetically modified plants, but they swore it would make a profit.

“They are up and running. Now it’s a settlement of nearly five thousand people. They managed to cultivate a lot of land and using their genetically modified crops they created a huge food supply for the survivors. Currently Gandalf, Radagast and Bilbo are trying to find a cure for the zombie virus.” Kili told him.

Thorin just smiled hearing the feisty blond made it. “Good for them!” He praised, in spirit thanking Mahal for giving them a chance. Five thousand people really was good news.

“How many people are out there?” Thorin asked slowly.

“I created a new program for the satellites and now I have a visual image of all the alive people and all the zombies. Currently the world is populated with nearly eighty four thousand people.” Kili explained.

“Now that really is good news.” Thorin smiled. “So what have you been doing all these months?” He knew Kili was a busybody and staying locked in a bunker much have been agonising for him.

“Apart from locating people and helping them?” Kili asked. “I’ve been supervising the more uncivilised groups, warning survivors about them.”

“What do you mean uncivilised?” Thorin asked slowly.

“I’ve established around thirty nine thousand are normal people.” Kili told him slowly. “Sane, functioning according to normal logics. We’re observing nearly two thousand crazy groups, cannibals, murderers... some are really far off.”

“The world has truly gone to hell.” Thorin mumbled.

The next few days were crazy, Fili and Kili spent all day online with Thorin, evaluating their resources, searching for options. Soon they arranged a conversation with Dwalin and later Gandalf. The next few days they were overseeing communication between Gandalf and Elrond. The two scientists had problems communicating, it was as if they were speaking two different languages. Finally all the conversations were held between Thranduil and Bilbo, while the two old professors and the scientist listened it, trying to contribute.

“So you began trial testing on rats? Are you sure the virus works on animals?” Elrond mused.

“Not as severely as on people.” Bilbo admitted. “They are more aggressive but in fact alive.”

“That’s interesting.” Elrond admitted.

“It’s as if...” Thranduil began. But Radagast ended “It was animal generative.”

“Kili?” Elrond asked.

“Yes?” Kili replied.

“We need your help.” Elrond admitted with pain.

“What kind of help?” Kili asked.

“First of all, send all our research to them, and theirs to us.” Elrond demanded. “We need to cross reference and make sure we didn’t miss anything.”

“Why do I get the feeling you have another idea?” Gandalf asked.

“Kili, do you have old newspapers? Internet news? Stuff like that?” Elrond asked slowly.

“I’ve got a pretty big data base.” Kili admitted.

“Could you do a search using keywords, ‘rabies’ ‘rage’ ‘animal attacks’?” Elrond asked.

“That’s a fucking big search...” Kili grunted.

“We’re searching for the source. That means we want you to follow the virus, find it’s starting point.” Bilbo realised and gave him further instructions.

“I’m going to do it.” Fili volunteered.

“Thank you.” Bilbo smiled.

“We haven’t got anything better to do here.” Kili laughed.

\------

Kili and Fili spent most time filtering the news on the internet, filtering blogs and news bulletins. Slowly they were drawing a map of first locations of infection.

“The first spots were in China, but how did this one in Brazil happen?” Fili drew a new spot and wrote a new date.

“Where did it happen?” Kili asked curiously.

“Some hospital.” Fili zoomed on the location.

“Try to find more.” Kili insisted.

Soon Fili found a blog of a nurse working there, with struggle he translated from Portuguese and he had the answer.

“They were doing an illegal heart transplant. And at the end of the operation the American businessman woke up and attacked the doctors and nurses.” Fili told him.

“The first case in South America.” Kili summed up. “The heart was probably harvested in China, they had a huge organ black market.”

“And someone did not realise they were cutting it out from someone infected. And because it wasn’t a legal operation they did not bother with tests...” Fili concluded.

“So China.” Kili pointed out.

“Seems so.” Fili glanced at the map.

“Qinghai province. First cases were all in the area of Gyaring and Ngoring Lakes.” Kili pointed to the map.

“What the fuck is there?” Fili crossed his brows. “Mountains and lakes. No big towns...”

“A perfect place for a hidden lab.” Kili realised. “Let’s take a look what’s there now.”

Fili sat back on his chair and zoomed the satellite into the area. “There is some kind of structure here.”

“Let’s see what we can get out of it. And I do pray your Chinese is good enough.” Kili grunted.

It proved good. Fili with ease translated the Chinese programs and Kili did his thing.

“They are heavily guarded...” Kili complained but continued breaking protocol after protocol.

“You know you’re a genius?” Fili embraced him tenderly, and began massaging his back and neck.

“Doesn’t feel like it now...” Kili grunted.

“You’re amazing.” Fili kissed his ear and later neck.

“A God of Sex?” Kili laughed.

“More like a Computer God.” Fili chuckled and kissed his neck again.

“I’m going to kill this system! I’m going to rip it to shreds and skull fuck it!” Kili got annoyed with the defences.

“Good luck Baby...” Fili cheered him on.

Kili was so focused on the task, time flew by and he tapped and tapped. The moment he got in he gasped loudly.

“It looks like a lab.” Fili smiled seeing the CCTV footage.

“Sure does.” Kili nodded, he swiftly began browsing. “Only zombies.” He hissed.

“We discovered a secret lab filled with zombies.” Fili laughed.

“Seems so. Let’s download anything we can from their computers.” Kili quickly decided.

“And seal their eternal tomb!” Fili was in a great mood.

\------

“So you’re saying these guys created the virus?” Elrond demanded during their next call.

“So indicate the files.” Kili told him. “I’m sending it all now. From what we understood they experimented with rage in monkeys.”

“And according to CCTV their employees were the first victims. Someone must have opened the secure lab and the virus went out.” Fili added.

“Fucking idiots....” Thranduil hissed. “We’ll analyse it all, and pray we find a solution.”

“Send everything to Gandalf as well.” Thorin demanded.

“We will.” Kili assured him.

\------

“We have created a first version of serum based on the research you sent. I’ll tell you one thing, I always thought Radagast was crazy, but those Chinese working with that insane Russian Azog Tulewarow... Radagast seems sane and rational in comparison.” Gandalf complained. “Understanding that Chinese gibberish... fucking hell!” The old man hissed.

“I hope it works.” Kili replied.

“I’m not optimistic, their lab protocols were unprofessional, no wonder the fucking thing got out.” Gandalf complained.

“How long till we know it works?” Fili asked.

“At least a few days, a week or two to be sure.” Gandalf dismissed him lightly.

They were all waiting impatiently but the results were inconclusive.

“The stupid rat seems okay, but yet he looks strange.” Bilbo had huge doubts. “But the fact is, other rats without the serum avoid him at all cost.”

“So in their opinion he’s dangerous.” Fili realised.

“Yes, the rats think he’s suspicious.” Bilbo continued.

“What about the infected rats?” Kili asked.

“They avoid him alike.” Bilbo told him slowly.

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Fili told them.

“In a way.” Bilbo nevertheless seemed disappointed.

“It will take more tests to make sure if we’re on the right path. We need to try harder.” Thorin decided.

“We have a few ideas as well, so you focus on the rats and we’ll so focus on the zombie specimens we’ve got.” Elrond decided.

It took nearly three months but finally Radagast’s crazy idea gave them a serum, it didn’t work as a cure, but made the zombie uninterested.

“So basically it makes a human target draw less attention?” Thorin pointed out.

“It should help us a lot.” Bilbo replied calmly.

\------

“It’s kind of depressing, being stuck there...” Tauriel tried to bond with Kili over the calls. The communication was up all the time, and many people dropped by to talk with them. Tauriel, Legolas, Dain and Gimli, tried to keep them in a good mood.

“It’s not that bad.” Kili continued eating his ice cream.

“Where the hell did you get ice cream?” Tauriel hissed.

“Fili made it.” Kili continued eating with delight.

“You can make ice cream? I always thought you had to buy it in a shop...” She was stunned.

“You make some lemonade and freeze it.” Kili informed her.

“Fucking shit!” Tauriel ran away with a crazy spark in her eyes.

“Stop giving her crazy ideas!” Dain scolded him. “She’s crazy as it is...”

“She’s cute.” Kili winked at him.

“Like a firecracker.” Dain hissed. “So you guys are happy in that beautiful modern top of the line bunker?”

“Very much so.” Kili smiled.

“Congratulations... you’re on your way to an everlasting lock down relationship.” Dain joked.

“Thank you.” Kili replied with a smirk.

“So this jerk is your family?” Fili asked.

“Get used to him. He’s always like this.” Kili explained.

“Thank Mahal we can just hang up!” Fili flipped the switch and pulled Kili closer.

“Are you happy here with me?” Fili asked him tenderly.

“Yes...” Kili rasped against his lips.

“If you could choose... would you rather be here with me, or in the Shire or Ice-Snowy-Land?” Fili asked him slowly.

“Well that tropical island with Captain Aragorn sounds nice... you forgot about the Buckhorn Ridge...” Kili suggested.

Fili inhaled deeply.

“Here with you.” Kili replied with a grin. “And the fun part is that you can’t leave me!”

“I would never leave you... no matter where we would live...” Fili sealed their lips feeling exuberated.

“We’ve got the coolest home on the planet! So let’s start walking around naked...” Kili tenderly reached for Fili’s t-shirt.

“You’re reading my mind...” Fili kissed him again.

The End.


End file.
